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First Class Citizenship
The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson
| Publisher: | Henry Holt and Company | | Suitable Age: | 0 - Adults | | Format: | Hardcover | | Length: | 359 pgs. | | Dimensions: | 6x9 in. |
| SKU: BKBENG014 |
$15.00 |
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| Description |
Jackie Robinson's courage on the baseball diamond is one of the greatest stories of the struggle for civil rights in America, and his Hall of Fame career speaks for itself. But we no longer hear Robinson speak for himself; his death at age fifty-three in 1972 robbed America of his voice far too soon. In First Class citizenship, Jackie Robinson comes alive on the page for the first time in decades. The scholar Michael G. Long has unearthed a remarkable trove of Robinson's correspondence with-and personal replies form-such towering figures as Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Hubert Humphrey, Nelson Rockefeller, and Barry Goldwater. These extraordinary conversations reveal the scope and depth of Robinson's effort during the 1950's and 1960's to rid America of racism.
Robinson's correspondence is at once immediate,vivid, and revealing. We see him in 1958 chastising President Eisenhower for suggesting that African Americans be "patient" in their demands for civil rights. "I respectfully remind you, sir," he writes, "that we have been the most patient of all people .....I wondered how we could have self-respect and remain patient considering the treatment accorded us through the years." We witness an impassioned exchange with Barry Goldwater in the midst of the 1964 election campaign where Robinson all but calls him a racist and Goldwater feebly tries to defend himself. And we see his gentle admonishment to Nelson Rockefeller not to use the phrase "attaboy" when speaking to African American audiences. "Although all the people who know you look upon your use of the expression as perfectly harmless," Robinson instructs,"the word 'boy' is practically a dirty word to all Negroes.' Rockefeller replies, "Dear Jackie: You are right-I should not use the expression 'attaboy'. I shall be more careful in the future.
Writing eloquently and with evident passion, Robinson charted his own course, offering his support to Democrats and to Republicans, questioning the tactics fo the civil rights movement, and challlenging the nation's leaders when her felt they were guilty of hypocricy-or worse. Through his words as well as his actions, Jackie Robinson truly personified the "first class citizenship" he considered the birth rights of All Americans, whatever their race.
| SKU: BKBENG014 |
$15.00 |
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